Forward: This blog was written by one of our 8th grade Youth Leaders in Groveton. In addition to mentoring and teaching our STEM Explorers in Groveton, Alex Goulet loves tinkering with coding, robotics, and many other engineering projects.
Written by: Alex Goulet, 8th grade Groveton student
Project: Ev3 Etch-o-Sketch
What is cool about this project is how the EV3 is programmed to draw lines exactly like an Etch a Sketch does. I decided to start this project because I thought it would be fun and interesting to make a “game” that can be played on the EV3 screen.
When the program runs, the brick buttons turn red and wait for something to be 5 inches or less in front of the ultrasonic sensor
My project started when I brought my book, “The LEGO ® MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book” by Laurens Valk to the after-school STEM program that came to Groveton and one of the instructors from WMSI said I could make a project with one of the robots in the book and write about it for the website.
When something like a hand covers the sensor the lights turn orange
The only problem I had was figuring out how to program a line to appear on the EV3 screen. I fixed the problem by searching online for a program guide and found it at LEGO.com. The most fun part of the project was getting the Etch a Sketch to work. The book did not say what the sensors were supposed to do, so I added extra “blocks” into the program to use the sensors to start the Etch a Sketch.
When the color sensor is covered and it detects darkness, the lights turn green and it’s ready to go
The Etch a Sketch was simply used as a game and to see if it is possible to make a real one out of LEGO ® Bricks. Through the process of doing the project and programming it, i learned how the Etch a Sketch is programmed and what they are supposed to do.